Dingjiangshan

Once the time of Hai in the palace is over, no one will come out and walk around.The moonlight hangs high in the twilight, most of it is covered by dark clouds, and the thick shadows extend from the back of the house, extending along the flat bluestone ground in large swaths.

The weak wind passed through the canal from under the palace wall, bringing out some small wind sounds, which sounded like the specious whimpers of women.

Shu Qiuyu took the key from Gingko's hand, and locked the nephew's warehouse securely.

Ginkgo held a paper lantern in her hand, and held a few account books in her arms. Her back was hairy from the wind outside, and she went straight to Shu Qiuyu's side.

"Miss..." Ginkgo swallowed, and whispered, "We won't be going back to the house tonight, you haven't been back for three days."

"I'm not going back, I still haven't finished reading the account books." Shu Qiuyu said lightly, "The maids and servants in the Spring Palace have to distribute new fabrics and tailor clothes, so there is no delay. They will stay in the palace tonight."

"When I didn't know, what did you say to look at the account books? It's not because the lady and the master quarreled." Gingko sighed for a long time and said, "Miss is a daughter, so it's fine if the master says a few words, why bother talking to him?" Well, I don’t have to end up not being able to go home now.”

Ginkgo is a little girl who has never been out of the inner house. Although she has accompanied her to learn piano, chess, calligraphy and painting all these years, and she can know a few words, her brain and vision can't get out of the inner house.

What Shu Qinghui said was nothing more than those things, and it got worse after the new year. These days, he didn't mention asking her to "get along" with Ning Yan, but he decided to send a female official to the palace.

Shu Qiuyu has been obsessed with the ways of housekeeping since she was a child, how can she not know what Shu Qinghui means.

The person who tried to stuff some warm beds around the emperor, he really went back to life.

"No." Shu Qiuyu didn't intend to tell Gingko all these words, but said: "I'm really busy. Since Your Majesty is sympathetic, he vacated a side courtyard next to the inner department for me, and we can't let it down."

"What's good in the palace." Ginkgo rubbed her arms and said, "I heard from the old nuns outside that there are a bunch of women who died in vain in the palace, and they might come out to make trouble one day. Your Majesty's harem people are so No, it's pitch black, and it's scary to look at."

"You can't take it anymore?" Shu Qiuyu glanced at her, put away the keys to the warehouse, and said as she walked, "It's a good thing I didn't marry into the palace, otherwise you would have to live here every day, and you wouldn't be scared. Come."

"Bah, bah, bah." Ginkgo hurriedly caught up and said angrily, "Miss, what are you talking about? If you work hard, you will definitely be able to marry Your Majesty. Your Majesty is protected by dragon energy, so of course you won't be afraid of evil spirits."

Shu Qiuyu looked at her helplessly and shook his head.

The nights in early spring are not much better than those in early winter. The cool wind is cold and hard, making people uncomfortable.After standing outside for a while, Shu Qiu Yuguang felt his hands and feet were cold, so he rubbed his hands and walked out with Ginkgo.

Ning Yan's harem was vacant, so he usually didn't come to the harem except to greet the queen mother, so he didn't have to worry about collisions, so he drew a small palace for Shu Qiuyu in the southeast corner of the harem to stay.

The palace is not far from Neisi, and it only takes a quarter of an hour to get there on weekdays, but it is too late now, and some of the gates of the palace roads have been locked, so Shu Qiuyu will inevitably have to take a detour from the main road. past.

From Neisi to Shenyue Temple, you have to bypass the Imperial Garden. It is pitch black outside, and the only source of light is the lamp in Ginkgo’s hand. There are many trees in the Imperial Garden. Ginkgo looks like a monster with claws and teeth. , feeling very guilty, while urging Shu Qiuyu to leave quickly, he almost crumpled the account book in his hand.

"...How dare you be so timid." Shu Qiuyu sighed, "You must have gone to listen to the nuns and maids secretly talking about those gods and ghosts in the daytime."

Ginkgo was hit by her words, and she gave her a shy look, but didn't dare to answer back.

"Forget it." Shu Qiuyu said, "Let's just leave quickly, and I'll take you back home tomorrow."

As Shu Qiuyu said, he reached out for the lantern in Ginkgo's hand, wanting to walk ahead.Ginkgo was terribly frightened, so she gave it to her.

The small paper lantern passed through the hands of the two of them for a while, reflecting the surrounding circle of fire and flickering, and in an instant, a flashing figure was drawn from Shu Qiuyu's peripheral vision.

Shu Qiuyu paused, straightened up subconsciously, and looked in the direction of the figure in his peripheral vision.

The figure moved quickly and was too far away, so it was not illuminated by the lights, but was just seen by Shu Qiuyu when it flashed by.

Ginkgo was startled by her, and her voice became weak. She looked around tremblingly, pulled Shu Qiuyu's clothes, and asked in a trembling voice, "Miss, what did you see?"

Shu Qiuyu didn't speak, she recalled the direction of the figure passing by at that moment, and turned her head to look at the palaces not far away.

"Ginkgo." Shu Qiuyu asked, "What direction is that?"

Ginkgo poked her head and knocked over there, and said hesitantly: "The palaces in that corner are still empty, except for the servants who clean up, no one lives there..."

"Really?" Shu Qiuyu said.

I don't know if it was her illusion, subconsciously, she always felt that the person who just passed by seemed to have malicious intentions.It's just that the figure disappeared so quickly that she couldn't even see the features of her figure clearly, and she couldn't tell whether it was a maid or a servant.

"That's right." Gingko said, "Just go a little further to the other end and turn to the left, and you will be the Renshou Palace of the Empress Dowager."

At three o'clock in Haishi, the lights in the main hall of Renshou Palace hadn't been turned off yet, and the little waiter at the gate of the palace couldn't hold on anymore, and his eyelids were fighting between the quilts in the corner.The servants in the hall were still waiting at the door as in the daytime, and occasionally a few came out of the house, carrying tea trays to the water house to exchange tea.

I don't do any of these two respectable or leisurely jobs, so I can only stand by the side door and sleepily watch the night.

He was half leaning against the wall, his head drooping little by little.The walls are smooth and unreliable. After repeatedly waking up and going there several times, I finally fell into a deep sleep. I couldn't stand firmly on my feet, and I fell down when my knees were bent.Fortunately, he woke up the moment he fell, so as not to plunge his head into the ground.

The moment Shili woke up, the side door beside him happened to be knocked from outside. He beat his numb leg, walked to the door step by step, and asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me." The man outside said.

It was a female voice that Shili was familiar with, so he didn't ask any more questions, but opened the lock silently, opened a small crack in the side door, and let the person in.

Linglong squeezed in from the door familiarly, and asked, "Is the empress dowager asleep?"

Shili didn't dare to look at her directly, first shrank his shoulders subconsciously, then remembered to respond, so he shook his head and said softly: "Not yet, I just heard the empress dowager ordering people to do things."

Linglong was preoccupied, she nodded indiscriminately when she heard the words, and hurried to the main hall.

Shili stared at her back for a while, walked over slowly, and closed the side door again.

He didn't lock it again, but only pulled the bolt - according to his experience, Linglong would not stay here for a long time, at most it would take half a cup of tea or a stick of incense before she would come out. , if you lock the door now, it will take another time.

Seeing Linglong entering the main hall, Shiliyan completely lost her shadow, put her hands into her sleeves, walked back to the base of the wall, leaned back into the shadows and dozed off again.

Linglong walked into the main hall softly - she used to come to answer Ruan Yin from time to time, and everyone in the room knew her, so there was no need to inform her.

It was late at night, but Ruan Yin hadn't rested yet. She changed into a thin soft dress, tied a mop on her forehead, and was leaning on the soft couch to eat grapes.

The waiter next to her was softly persuading her to take care of her stomach, and only let her eat a few, then moved the silver plate a little farther away, and served her another bowl of tea.

As Linglong walked over, the servant beside Ruan Yin's couch consciously stepped aside to make room for Linglong to kneel.

Linglong knelt down three steps away, walked a few steps closer on her knees, and softly called: "The Empress Dowager."

"You've been coming here quite often recently." Ruan Yin said, "Is there anything worthwhile for you to always run to Ai's house, if your Majesty can't find someone to serve you, you will be in trouble."

"Master Jiang has come into the palace tonight, so there is no need for servants to wait on him," Linglong said.

Ruan Yin on the couch finally had some reaction, she frowned slightly, and asked, "Jiang Xiaohan returned to Beijing?"

"Listen to that Huatou, he just arrived tonight, so he came into the palace to answer His Majesty." Linglong said, "It's just that there are foreign ministers here, and it's not good for servants to be present. After delivering the snacks and tea, they came out. There is nothing else other than a few pleasantries."

"Nothing else." Ruan Yin sneered: "Zheng'er told me when he wrote a letter earlier that he saw Jiang Xiaohan's traces at Anqing Mansion, saying that he would not go by water or enter the post station, but went to the countryside. Noda drilled on his head."

"When Lord Jiang entered the palace, it was already late at night, and the slaves felt that if there was nothing important, there should be no need to enter the palace at this time." Linglong said in a low voice, "It's just that the Zichen Palace is heavily staffed, so it's not easy for the slaves to eavesdrop."

"You can't eavesdrop either." Ruan Yin glanced at her lightly, and said, "Ten years ago, this Mr. Jiang went to Liangjiang, and he pulled down two adult princes one by one. He is very capable. .

Ruan Yin got angry when she mentioned this, her chest heaved twice, and she said in a hateful voice: "At the beginning, Zheng'er was the son and eldest son, and he was obviously expected to be on the throne, but Master Jiang used a dirty trick to get him killed. If it wasn’t for the fact that the first emperor listened and believed, there would be nothing wrong with Ning Yan. Now he is running to Zheng’er again, who knows what he is planning.”

Whether as the late emperor's empress or Ning Zheng's aunt, Ruan Yin's resentment towards Jiang Xiaohan was just a little bit more.Ning Zheng missed the throne, and she went to the imperial mausoleum to "pray" for seven years, and it was more or less thanks to him.

It was precisely because Linglong knew this that she didn't dare to delay for a moment, and came late at night at the risk of being discovered by Ning Yan.

Ruan Yin was angry for a while, but in the end reason prevailed, she let out a breath of foul breath slowly, and waved her hands tiredly.

"If you haven't been ordered by Ai's family recently, you don't have to come here." Ruan Yin said.

Linglong was stunned for a moment, and asked: "Why is this? Is there something your servant has not done well recently?"

"—No." Ruan Yin seemed to have remembered another matter, and said casually: "There is still something I want you to investigate."

Linglong was not afraid of being sent, but she was afraid that Ruan Yin would think she was useless, so she hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, tell me."

"Aijia remembers that His Majesty's coronation ceremony will be arranged this year." Ruan Yin flicked her nails and said, "If the emperor discusses this matter, remember to come and call Aijia."

"The Ai family wants to give the emperor a coronation gift." Ruan Yin said.